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`Hell No', Kofi Annan says to resignation rumours

     New York: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has rejected suggestions of quitting his office over his son's alleged role in the Iraq oil-for-food contract in the aftermath of the Gulf War. When asked whether he will resign, Annan said, "Hell no". His comments came after an inquiry commission absolved Annan of any involvement in the United Nations Oil-For-Food programme in Iraq. A Swiss firm Cotecna won hefty contracts. Annan's son Kojo works for the company and it was being alleged that the Secretary General used his influence to get the contract. Though the UN head has been cleared, the inquiry report has commented that "serious questions" remain about Kojo's business dealings in the programme. Meanwhile, Annan has urged his son to extend full cooperation to the panel which is being headed by US Federal Reserve Banking Chief Paul Volcker.

Without Modi, British Asians take to Gujarati music (Go To Top)
by Mike Lockey

     London: Last Saturday (March 26), saw the staging at London's Royal Albert Hall of the first ever festival celebrating the music and dance of Gujarat in Britain. The event was organised by the Asian Music Circuit, the AMC, and there had been fears in the weeks leading up to the celebration that it would be the setting for some serious protests against the presence in Britain of Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi. Various groups of British Asians were furious that the government, following the lead of the USA as they usually do, had not cancelled Modi's visa. Further, Shamsuddin Agha, president of the Indian Muslim Federation, had said that it was a Muslim's obligation to demonstrate against the man who is perceived to have played a part in the deaths of some 1,000 Muslims in Gujarat, following that infamous massacre of Hindu pilgrims at Godhra. In the event, the festival passed off without any serious disruption and showcased some of the best Gujarati music and dance groups around, all brought together by the AMC, which is an organisation dedicated to bringing the best of traditional and contemporary music and dance from Asia to Britain. As the organiser of the show, Viram Jaswani, explained: "In this case we wanted to present traditional folk music and dance from Gujarat, specifically Kathiawad, and to bring to public attention these under-represented Gujerati art forms. In addition this is one way to bring to light the massive impact the Gujerati community has had on British life".

     The show also included Mher and Bharwad folk dancers who, back home, are farmers and cow herders from Porbandar and Surendranagar, but perhaps the star of the show was a man called Praful David who is one of a dying breed of very traditional folklore singers. All of that of course is perhaps very much of an attraction for the older generations of Gujaratis in Britain, but was there anything in the programme to attract the younger elements of the community? Viram Jaswani again: "There was a beautiful presentation by the students of Shishukunj, a Gujarati school, using music specially composed for this occasion by Sandeep Rawal. And we also had the master percussionist Tirlok Gurtu. So, overall, I believe this festival had cross generational appeal and was enjoyed by everyone, young and old". So, it is a festival that looks likely to build on this initial success in the coming years.

Free cardiac surgery performed at Mohali on Pak cricket fan (Go To Top)

     Lahore: A 52-year old Pakistani cricket fan who had suffered a cardiac arrest while cheering at the Mohali cricket Test between India and Pakistan got a new lease of life following a cardiac surgery performed on him free of cost by Fortis Hospital. According to the Daily Times, the 0.2 million rupees double coronary artery bypass graft was performed on Muhammad Qasim when he was admitted to the hospital on March 11. The hospital administrator Ashish Bhatia during a visit to Lahore said, that the hospital waived the fee as a special gesture towards strengthening Indo-Pak ties, adding that the hospital being near to the Mohali stadium also provided free medical care to emergency cases involving cricket matches. "The fee was waived as a special gesture towards strengthening Indo-Pak ties. Dr TS Mahant, executive director cardio thoracic and vascular surgery, performed the Rs 0.2 million double coronary artery bypass graft on Qasim after he was admitted to the hospital on March 11. Our hospital always provides free medical care to emergency cases from cricket matches as it is situated near the Mohali stadium," the paper quoted Bhatia as saying. He further said that Qasim had recovered and after being discharged, was now living with a relative. "He is living with a relative. He was overwhelmed by the gesture and extended heartfelt gratitude to the hospital authorities," Bhatia added.

Pakistan wins toss, asks India 'A' to bat first (Go To Top)

     Hyderabad: Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first in the one-day warm up match against India 'A' at the Visakha stadium here. The match, which was scheduled to begin at 9 AM got delayed by 30 minutes due to administrative reasons. However, the Pakistan team arrived at the stadium at 8.30 this morning and had a brief practice session. Pakistan has fielded its second string team, led by Abdul Razzak. Star players Inzamal-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and Mohamad Sami is sitting out. Eleven players playing in Pakistan team are: Abdul Razzak (Captian), Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Asim Kamal, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Nasir, Rana Naveed-ul-Hashan, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Arshad Khan, Danish Kaneria and Shoaib Malik. India 'A' team is led by Sairaj Bahutule. Robin Uttappa, Sajeev Sanyal and A T Rayudu have not been included in the playing eleven. Teams: India A: Sairaj Bahutule (Captian), Shikar Dhawan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Suresh Raina, Niraj Patel, Y Venugopala Rao, S Sriram, Rudra Pratap Singh, Randeb Bose, Amit Bahandari, Romesh Powar. The Umpires are: Rajan Seth (Delhi) and Balwant Sharma (Udaipur) and Sathya Mohanty will be the Match observer.

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